US Agency for Global Media works to combat internet censorship in Cuba and other foreign countries

Last year the United States Agency For Global Media – Office Of Internet Freedom announced a search for technologies to circumvent foreign governments attempts to censor internet communications, including in Cuba. 

No award has been announced for that search, but the agency continues to award contracts for the internet program, as well as for other agency activities. The current list of opportunities is available HERE.

The USAGM oversees the mission and operation of several civilian overseas broadcasting entities of the US Government, including the Voice of America, Radio Free  Asia, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio and TV Marti), Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN). 

The USAGM is the independent federal agency that oversees U.S. Government-sponsored, public service media networks that provide unbiased news and information in countries where the press is restricted, according to the agency. Its mission is to inform, engage and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy. 

With more and more people around the world turning to the internet as their primary source of information, the USAGM’s target audiences are increasingly accessing and sharing information and news content on digital platforms and via social media. 

At the same time, many of them live under repressive regimes where freedom of the press and expression are curtailed or nonexistent, according to USAGM. As a result, internet freedom technologies that provide access to blocked content, safe and secure methods to source and share it, and the means for journalists to operate in hostile markets have become critically important and fundamental to carrying out USAGM’s mission.

The USAGM has been involved in activities to circumvent foreign governments’ aggressive censorship of the internet since 2002. The USAGM is determined to expand internet freedom and freedom of expression by continuing to explore, develop, and fund the most secure and effective internet freedom tools through its Office of Internet Freedom (OIF), which is responsible for the USAGM’s internet freedom program.

The mission of the Office of Internet Freedom is to support the testing, deployment, and management of technologies that circumvent internet blocking, filtering, and other censorship techniques principally used by repressive regimes by overseeing the USAGM’s internet freedom program. 

The OIF has generally focused on funding or sponsoring internet freedom tools that provide online access, where censorship exists, to a large number of audiences around the world using web proxies and client-based software tools. The OIF backs and funds these technologies by awarding and administering contracts and other agreements that provide the public with censorship circumvention technology.

To learn more about the current opportunities, visit the agency’s contracts page HERE.